But today marks the 75th anniversary since the publishing of this work in 1937.
The Hobbit introduces us to Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Gollum and a baker’s dozen dwarves and serves as the prelude to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It has been translated into more than 50 languages and has sold 100 million copies worldwide.
“The most that can be said for the dwarves is this: they intended to pay Bilbo really handsomely for his services; they had brought him to do a nasty job for them, and they did not mind the poor little fellow doing it if he would; but they would all have done their best to get him out of trouble, if he got into it. . . . There it is: dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk with a great idea of the value of money; some are tricky and treacherous and pretty bad lots; some are not, but are decent enough people like Thorin and Company, if you don’t expect too much.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit